Many bow sight designs and configurations are known. Bow sights generally have multiple sight points used when shooting at targets positioned at different distances from the archer.
A common sight point is a two-dimensional dot, such as painted on the end of a pin. The end of a fiber optic or other light gathering fiber is another common sight point. When a fiber end is used as the sight point, the fiber optic may or may not be supported, for example by a pin.
Many bow sights include multiple sight points attached to horizontal pins; examples of such bow sights are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,568 (Canoy); U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,122 (Wiseby et al.); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,081 (Winegar). A more recent development has been a bow sight with vertical pins. An example of a bow sight having multiple vertical pins and a fiber optic sight point at the end of the pins is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,633 (Rager). A number of U.S. patents disclose bow sights having various other arrangements of sight points. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,234,651 (Rivers); U.S. Pat. No. 4,120,096 (Keller); U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,567 (Tutsch); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,153 (Seales).
The pins, which are sufficiently rigid and strong to support the sight points, are usually either plastic or metal. Plastic has generally been preferred due its ease of processability; pins of various shapes and sizes can be easily produced, such as by extrusion or molding. Metal pins are preferable due to their strength, however, it has generally been difficult to produce acceptable pins, as the metal is generally machined or cast to form the pin structure.
Improvements in bow sights and their parts, particularly in the pins, are desired.